One Quick Tip for Better Sleep

If you haven’t already read it, please go read Zach’s Tuesday blog post about easy ways you can improve your sleep. I agree 100% with Zach: sleep is the #1 thing you should fix if you want to lose fat!

And as an aside, sleep is important for a lot more than just fat loss. It can improve athletic performance, general health and longevity, and happiness.

Shamelessly piggy-backing on Zach’s previous post, today I’m going to share with you a quick, easy, and free method for improving your sleep: f.lux.

What is f.lux? Sounds like some sort of fancy nightclub in Vegas, or maybe a medication for some sort of weird condition that you don’t want to have.

Actually, f.lux is a tiny, simple piece of software that can improve your sleep. How? Here’s the description from f.lux’s own website:

During the day, computer screens look good—they’re designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn’t be looking at the sun.

F.lux fixes this: it makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

It’s even possible that you’re staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better.

 

Apparently, being exposed to blue light after sundown can disrupt your sleep cycles. So f.lux fixes this by shifting your monitor to more red light, especially as the sun goes down.

I installed f.lux on my computer about a year ago, and I feel like I notice myself being less “wired” if I have to work on my computer late at night.

Other people have told me that using f.lux has made them less tired in the morning, and has also led to spontaneous singing in the rain, not to mention cures for cancer, halitosis, and world hunger.

Of course, this could all be a placebo effect, but in any case it’s a FREE placebo, because f.lux is completely free.

As a huge plus, I’ve found that f.lux works so quietly and so effectively on my computer that I don’t even notice it’s there. But when I have to borrow a friend’s computer at night, the blue light strikes me as really harsh.

Also, it would be better if you would just turn off your laptop early, instead of relying on something like f.lux. But things don’t always work out perfectly, so f.lux is nice to have as a backup plan.

So try it out; it’s free, and you’ve got nothing to lose! And if you have another easy tip for better sleep, please share in the comments!